Alternatives to United Streaming

Teachers easily get frustrated when they can’t find something in a new resource and the last thing you want to do is give them reasons NOT to use the technology! This case is true for United Streaming as well. If they search for something too specific, their search may result in zero hits. Here are some strategies and resources that will help your staff find what they’re looking for. And sometimes…this might be not through United Streaming.

First, know what United Streaming is NOT good for:

Canadian history and culture

Second language resources (although I have found some good French and Spanish videos)

FLASH-based animations or learning objects

Second, know where to go when you can’t find something on United Streaming:

Heritage Minutes Videos: Remember those 1 minute vignettes on Canadian History? Well they’re all online! There’s also videos about Canadian heroes and tons of other cultural topics.

Teacher-Tube: YouTube for teachers! Great place to find some lessons that teachers have uploaded. Accessible through the district servers…its not blocked like YouTube

LearnAlberta.ca contains a ton of videos in Science, Math, Language Arts, Social and Second Languages

National Film Board of Canada has announced a new project called Across Cultures. Available at the site are film excerpts, entire films, and print resources that focus on the contribution of various ethnocultural communities to Canada.

Third, be prepared for other questions about educational video use or other interactive sites:

Our school district blocks YouTube and Google Video and sometimes there are some great educational videos. How can we access these at school? Simple answer, you can’t. What you can do is find the video on your home computer, copy the URL and get Zamzar to convert it for you to a downloadable file format.

United Streaming doesn’t have a lot of animations. Are there sites that have animations or simulations? There are a number of them. Some are subscription-based such as BrainPop and Gizmos. However, LearnAlberta is a great starting point. The BBC has some great stuff including French Podcasts, Grammar Skills and Revision sites.